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Frontispiece 



ADVENTURES OF 
SAMMY SASSAFRAS 


BY 

CARL WATERMAN 


Illustrated by 
HUGH SPENCER 



NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 
68 1 Fifth Avenue 


Copyright, 1919, by 
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 


All Rights Reserved 


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©CI,A529905 


Printed in the United States of America 


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CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Sammy Goes Hunting .... i 
II. A Thief in the Woods .... 40 

III. Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon ... 50 

IV. The Bumblebees’ Nest .... 73 

V. Mr. Bear’s Story 92 

VI. The Island in the Big Pond . . 106 

VH. Old Mr. Rabbit 124 

VHI. The End of the Story . . . .157 


vii 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Frontispiece Facing Title 

There was no doubt about it; it was a bear! 

A big black one! 9 

‘‘Well! Well! young man/’ said the bear, 

“What does this mean? ” .... 13- 

Mr. Bear rapped sharply three times on the 

apple tree 19 

There sat all the animals and birds around 

Sammy and looked at him .... 25 

Mrs. Bear was standing in the open door 

watching them 6l 

Mr. Bear was a great worker .... 67 

Mr. Bear sprang to his feet and started 

down the hill 8 1 

Doctor Porcupine came trotting up to the 

house 85 

The monkeys laughed, and Bill roared with 

anger loi 

He took it home and ironed it before he 

put it on again 127 

Old Mr. Rabbit ran and ran and ran into the 

West 143 

When Doctor Porcupine arrived he jumped 
up on the bed beside Mr. Rabbit and 
felt his pulse 153 

ix 


* 










ADVENTURES OF 
SAMMY SASSAFRAS 



Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


CHAPTER I 

SAMMY GOES HUNTING 

T he farm where Sammy lived was 
many miles from the village. 
The road ran through the woods and it 
took Sammy’s father half a day to drive 
to the village and back in the farm 
wagon drawn by his big white horse. 

In those days it was very quiet in the 
country; no automobiles went by and 
not even the whistle of a railroad train 
sounded in the distance. But to a little 
boy who loved the meadows and the 


2 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


woods the summer days around Sam- 
my’s house were full of life and fun. 

Bob White, the little brown quail, 
called from the corn field and rose with 
a great whirr of wings when you crept 
up close to get a look at him. Grass- 
hoppers danced all day in the long 
grass by the road and the chipmunks 
raced along the stone walls or sat up 
straight and still to watch you with their 
little beady eyes. 

Sammy was a freckled little boy who 
stood up very straight on his strong 
little legs. He held up his head and 
looked you in the face when you spoke 
to him. When he told you something, 
you knew that it was true; and he was 
the best brother in the world to his little 
sister Sally. 

Sammy and Sally played together all 


Sammy Goes Hunting 


3 


about the farm; sailing boats on the 
spring in the pasture, where the water 
bubbled up among the dead leaves at 
the bottom; down at the brook in the 
big meadow to scare out the speckled 
trout from under the banks; over at the 
edge of the woods to gather raspberries 
that grew along the stone wall. They 
knew every last place on that big farm 
where there was any fun to be had. 

Sammy was six years old when things 
worth telling about began to happen to 
him. It all began one evening when he 
and Sally weni a long way down the 
quiet road to the place where a Wood 
Road ran off to the left under the pine 
trees. 

Sammy wondered what a little boy 
might find if he went ever so far down 
that Wood Road. Perhaps a big black 


4 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


bear might step out of the bushes and a 
little boy might shoot him if he had a 
gun and bring home a bear skin to sur- 
prise his mother. But it was time for 
supper then and Mother had told them 
to come right back. Sammy took Sally 
by the hand and together they ran home 
to supper. 

Next morning Father and Mother 
drove off to the village. Sally was sit- 
ting between them on the seat of the new 
buggy. 

When they were gone Sammy went 
out into the kitchen and stood looking 
for a long time at his father’s big gun 
hanging over the fireplace. Ever since 
he woke up that morning, Sammy had 
been thinking about the Wood Road. 
There must surely be a bear somewhere 
in those deep woods. 


Sammy Goes Hunting 


5 


Finally he brought a chair to the fire- 
place, stood up on it, and lifted down 
the heavy gun. Then he took one of 
the shiny metal percussion caps out of 
a paste-board box that stood on the 
mantel. He had watched his father 
often enough to know what to do. He 
pulled back the hammer of the gun until 
it clicked once, looked to see that there 
were little black grains of powder in the 
nipple where the hammer struck when 
you pulled the trigger, pressed the per- 
cussion cap down over them, put the 
gun over his shoulder and went out of 
the kitchen door. 

He walked down the path between 
his mother’s flower beds, opened the 
white gate and stepped out into the road. 

Then for the first time he stopped to 
think. Father probably wouldn’t want 


6 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


him to take the gun, but he had taken 
it now and would have to tell Father 
about that, anyway. Besides, they 
couldn’t be very angry with a little boy 
who brought home a bear skin to make 
a new rug for the sitting room. 

So Sammy trudged off down the dusty 
road in the warm summer sunlight with 
the gun over his shoulder. 

It seemed a long way to the Wood 
Road. When he got past the big 
meadow, and the trees began, it was 
shady, but the gun hurt his shoulder, 
and he was getting tired. Presently, the 
trees grew thicker, so that only patches 
of sunlight sifted through, and at last 
he saw ahead of him the Wood Road, 
running off to the left among the dark 
pine trees. 

When he got there, Sammy sat 


Sammy Goes Hunting 


7 


down to rest. It was cool and sweet 
under the trees. The ground was soft 
with pine needles and the smell of the 
deep woods was strong and pleasant. 
Sammy leaned back against a tree and 
laid the gun across his knees like a pic- 
ture he had once seen of a hunter be- 
side a camp-fire. When he was rested 
and cool, he jumped up, picked up his 
gun and started down the Wood Road, 
watching and listening at every step. 

The Wood Road wound among the 
trees and rose gradually till Sammy 
found himself walking along the top of 
a little ridge. On both sides he could 
look down deep into the woods. A cool 
breeze rustled through the branches. 

The woods were full of little friendly 
noises. Sammy forgot all about hunt- 
ing bears and probably couldn’t have 


8 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


told you why he was carrying the heavy 
gun. 

At an open place among the trees 
where the sun shone through beside 
the road, Sammy found a great patch 
of blueberry bushes. He dropped his 
gun at once and for the next ten min- 
utes was busy eating enough blueber- 
ries to fill one of his mother’s big blue- 
berry pies. 

When he had eaten all he could, he 
stepped back into the Wood Road. 
And then his heart gave a tremendous 
jump. 

Just beyond the blueberry patch 
something big and black came crashing 
through the bushes, burst out into the 
Wood Road and trotted slowly toward 
him. 



There was no doubt about it; it was a bear! 

A big black one. 


9 





Sammy Goes Hunting 


II 


There was no doubt about it; it was 
a bear! A big black one. 

Sammy was a brave little boy. The 
bear was about a hundred feet away 
when Sammy picked up the gun and 
pulled back the trigger until it clicked 
again. He braced his legs far apart, 
lifted the gun to his shoulder and tried 
to hold it straight at the bear. 

It was too heavy. The gun wobbled 
about and, try as he would, he couldn’t 
hold it up. He stood his ground, al- 
though his heart was hammering with 
fright, and he tried again to raise the 
heavy gun and hold it steady. 

The bear was close now. He shuffled 
along with his nose to the ground and 
Sammy could see the dead leaves stir 
with his breath. 

All at once the bear stopped short. 


12 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


raised his head and saw Sammy. For 
a moment he stared at Sammy and 
Sammy stared at him. Then suddenly, 
he stood up on his hind legs, tall as a 
man, swaying and balancing with his 
big front paws. 

The fright and surprise of that were 
too much for Sammy. He dropped his 
gun and jumped backward. A stick 
caught between his legs and the next 
moment he lay sprawling on his back in 
the middle of the Wood Road. 

The bear stepped forward and picked 
up the gun. He took off the percussion 
cap, let down the hammer, looked 
severely at Sammy and shook his head. 

“Well! Well! young man,” said the 
bear, “what does all this mean?” 

Sammy didn’t say anything; he 



“Well ! Well ! young man/’ said the bear, “what does 

all this mean?” 


13 








Sammy Goes Hunting 15 

couldn’t seem to think of anything that 
would add much to the conversation. 

Mr. Bear tucked the gun under his 
arm. 

“Come,” said he, “you have blue- 
berry stains on your pants and there 
is probably pitch among those pine 
needles. If you children would take a 
little care of your clothes, you would 
save your parents a great deal of 
trouble,” and he sighed deeply. 

He took Sammy by the arm and 
helped him to his feet. With his big 
paw he brushed the dirt carefully from 
Sammy’s clothes and then taking him 
by the hand, led him off down the Wood 
Road. Sammy trotted along beside him 
without a word. 

Mr. Bear walked along very well on 
his hind legs. He swayed just a little 


i6 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


from side to side, and his big feet came 
down far apart with a soft, heavy sound 
among the dead leaves. Once in a 
while his long thick fur brushed 
against Sammy’s shoulder. Sammy, as 
he trotted along, kept looking up at 
him. Mr. Bear was fat and big. He 
looked very old, somehow, and digni- 
fied and wise. Once he looked down 
at Sammy just as Sammy was looking 
up at him, and his eyes twinkled. 

Sammy kept tight hold of his paw. 
Mr. Bear seemed to be just the sort of 
person whose paw a little boy would 
like to take hold of and go somewhere. 

They had gone only a short distance 
when they came to a little clearing 
among the trees at the right of the Wood 
Road. It looked like a place where an 
old house might once have stood many 


Sammy Goes Hunting 17 


years ago. At the farther end stood an 
old crooked apple tree and there were 
yellow summer Pippins lying on the 
thick green grass, 

Mr. Bear stopped under the apple 
tree. 

“Sit down,” said he, “you must be 
tired.” Sammy sat down with his back 
against the apple tree, and Mr. Bear 
stood up the gun beside it. 

“Have an apple,” said Mr. Bear. 
“They’re very good.” 

Sammy picked up an apple. There 
was a little place eaten out of one side 
and Sammy wondered what sharp little 
teeth could have made those tiny nar- 
row marks. 

Mr. Bear picked up a stick and 
rapped sharply three times on the 
apple tree. It sounded hollow. Then 


i8 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


he walked to the end of the clearing, 
looked up and down the Wood Road, 
and came back. 

Sammy sat very still. There were 
little openings among the bushes all 
round the edge of the clearing. As he 
looked more closely about him, Sammy 
saw that these openings were tiny paths 
running off in all directions into the 
woods. 

Suddenly, without a sound, a sleek 
red fox skipped over a bush and stood 
in the clearing. He looked very dandy 
with his slim legs, black pointed ears 
and the white streak on his breast. 

Mr. Bear nodded to him and Mr. 
Fox curled his tail carefully to one side 
and sat down. He ran out his tongue, 
licked his black lips and yawned. 

“What are you going to do with that 



Mr. Bear rapped sharply three times on the apple tree. 


19 





Sammy Goes Hunting 2i 


bad boy?” asked Mr. Fox, jerking his 
head toward Sammy. “I saw that whole 
business down by the blueberry patch.” 

Sammy felt very uncomfortable. He 
could see that he was not going to like 
Mr. Fox. 

Mr. Bear paid no attention to Mr. 
Fox’s question, but looked at him 
sternly. “Will you kindly attend to 
your own affairs, Mr. Fox,” said Mr. 
Bear. “And since you know so much 
about everybody’s business and where 
everybody is, you can go and hurry up 
the rest.” 

Mr. Fox yawned and snapped at a 
fly, but he slipped off into the woods 
without a word. 

In a little while Sammy began to hear 
tiny rustling sounds all around him in 
the bushes. Many little animals came 


22 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


quietly out of the paths and sat down 
about the clearing. There would be 
just a faint stir among the leaves and in 
a moment another little pair of eyes 
looking steadily at Sammy, without a 
sound. Mr. Bear nodded kindly and 
with dignity to each as he came. 

It seemed only a few minutes before 
the clearing was alive with little furry 
bodies. 

Many bright-eyed birds fluttered 
silently into the near-by branches and 
sat still. An old black crow perched 
on a dead limb high over Sammy’s head. 
A plump brown partridge hopped up 
on a log, ruffled his neck and stretched 
his wings. 

A fat racoon curled up close by in 
the grass. A big hedgehog, rustling his 
quills, crept into the clearing, blinking 


Sammy Goes Hunting 23 

his eyes at the sunlight. A big red 
woodchuck came along followed by a 
sly looking old skunk. A slender little 
weasel ran quietly to the top of a stone 
which lay among the grasses. 

Then a big owl popped out of a hole 
in the very apple tree under which 
Sammy sat, shut his eyes against the 
light and seemed to go to sleep. 

When Mr. Owl came out, a big gray 
squirrel and a little red one jumped 
hastily out on the farthest branches of 
the apple tree. 

Presently a big old rabbit, with yery 
gray whiskers and ragged fur, came out 
of the woods and crouched down under 
a bush at the edge of the clearing. 
Sammy noticed Mr. Rabbit particu- 
larly. He looked very timid, as though 
he were just ready to cry. JVhen 


24 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

Sammy looked at him, he looked away 
or shut his eyes and tried to creep 
farther back into the bushes. 

Last of all came Mr. Muskrat and 
Mr. Mink, together. Mr. Muskrat was 
very fat. He looked cross and was puf- 
fing as though walking didn’t agree 
with him. There were bits of dead 
leaves sticking to his whiskers and he 
kept trying to brush them off with his 
short, stumpy little paws. 

There sat all the animals and birds 
around Sammy, and looked at him; and 
there sat Sammy in the middle, with his 
back against the apple tree and looked 
at them. He had never in his life seen 
so many animals. His heart was beat- 
ing very fast, but he sat up straight and 
brave and said never a word. 

Mr. Bear sat down beside Sammy and 



[There sat all the animals and birds around Sammy, 

and looked at him. 


L 


25 




Sammy Goes Hunting 27 


cleared his throat. He looked slowly 
around the clearing to see that every 
one was in his place. The animals 
craned their necks, pricked up their ears 
and sat very still. 

“This little boy,” began Mr. Bear, 
“came out into the woods with a gun. 
And I think,” he added gravely, “that 
he meant to shoot a bear.” 

There was a long pause. Mr. Owl 
opened his eyes for a moment and 
blinked solemnly at Sammy. Mr. Fox 
licked his lips and grinned. The ani- 
mals looked steadily at Sammy and 
Sammy looked as bravely as he could 
back at them. 

“His name,” went on Mr. Bear, “is 
Sammy Sassafras and he lives in the 
white farmhouse about half a mile down 
the road toward the village. He has a 


28 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


little sister named Sally, two years 
younger than he is.” 

Mr. Bear stopped and thought for a 
moment. 

“They have always been nice chil- 
dren,” he said thoughtfully, “and 
Sammy is very good to his little sister.” 

Old Mr. Rabbit, from where he sat 
under the bushes, looked timidly at 
Sammy as though he wished somebody 
would be good to him. 

“This is the first time,” added Mr. 
Bear, “that Sammy has been out in the 
woods alone.” 

There was another long pause. No 
one said a word. 

The little red squirrel on the branch 
over Sammy’s head nipped the tail of 
his big gray brother who chattered 
angrily and skipped to a higher limb. 


Sammy Goes Hunting 29 


M^. Bear looked up sternly and the 
squirrels became still as mice. 

“Now,” said Mr. Bear solemnly, 
“what ought to be done with a little boy 
who comes into the woods with a big 
gun to shoot animals?” 

Sammy’s heart sank. He was begin- 
ning to have ideas himself about what 
ought to be done with such a little boy. 
Mr. Bear seemed very big and solemn. 
Mr. Fox looked mean, with his yellow 
eyes and white teeth. The big hedge- 
hog’s bristles were like great needles 
and even the smallest animals had sharp 
white teeth. 

Sammy was frightened enough, but 
he sat up straighter than ever, held up 
his chin and kept back the tears. 

No one said a word. The animals 
looked gravely at Sammy and the birds 


30 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


craned their necks and peered down at 
him from the branches. 

It was Mr. Fox who spoke first, look- 
ing at Sammy with his narrow eyes. 

“Let’s chase him through the woods,” 
said Mr. Fox in his sharp throaty voice, 
“and see how he likes it. Guess that’ll 
teach him a lesson.” And he grinned 
and snapped with his white teeth at a 
fly. 

Sammy’s heart sank lower and his 
lips trembled. But he looked straight 
at Mr. Fox and he didn’t cry. Mr. Bear 
laid his big paw kindly on Sammy’s 
shoulder. There were tears in Sammy’s 
eyes but he looked up at Mr. Bear and 
tried to smile. 

Then old Mr. Rabbit began to speak 
from under the bush where he sat. He 
had a husky little voice and spoke 


Sammy Goes Hunting 31 

quickly and timidly, looking the other 
way as he spoke. 

“I don’t think,” began Mr. Rabbit 
hurriedly, ‘‘I don’t think he meant any- 
thing. You said he was a good boy, Mr. 
Bear — I don’t think — I don’t think ” 

Mr. Rabbit’s voice grew fainter and 
fainter and ended in a whisper. He 
shut his eyes and backed farther into 
the bushes. 

Mr. Bear stood up. He looked 
gravely and not unkindly at Mr. Rab- 
bit. Then he turned to the big hedge- 
hog who sat comfortably on the soft 
grass with his head on one side, listen- 
ing. 

“Doctor Porcupine,” said Mr. Bear, 
“what do you think?” 

Sammy opened his eyes wide and 
looked at Mr. Bear in surprise. It was 


32 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


the first time he had ever heard a hedge- 
hog called a porcupine. 

“Hedgehog! Hedgehog!” whispered 
the little red squirrel over Sammy’s 
head. Doctor Porcupine didn’t hear 
him but Mr. Bear did, and looked up 
quite fiercely. The red squirrel tried to 
make believe he was sneezing, choked, 
and nearly fell out of the tree. 

Doctor Porcupine sat up on his hind 
legs and looked about him. Very 
slowly and deliberately he reached into 
a little pocket among his quills, took out 
a pair of horn spectacles and set them 
on his nose. Then he looked about him 
again. Everyone but the red squirrel 
seemed quite respectful. 

“I am inclined to think,” began Doc- 
tor Porcupine in a very big voice, “I 
am inclined to think that this is a case 


Sammy Goes Hunting 33 


in which justice should be tempered 
with mercy. We should place our- 
selves, as it were, in loco parentis.” 

Sammy fairly gasped with astonish- 
ment. He had never heard such big 
words. He couldn’t understand half of 
them. But Doctor Porcupine looked 
kind-hearted in spite of his bristling 
quills. Mr. Bear seemed to agree with 
him and kept nodding his head. 

Doctor Porcupine thought for a long 
time before he spoke again. 

“If it were left entirely to me,” said 
he, “I should recommend a suitable 
reprimand followed by a period of pro- 
bation to be determined in duration by 
the condition of the patient, or, I should 
say by the conduct of the defendant.” 

Doctor Porcupine took off his horn 
spectacles and put them back in his 


34 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

pocket. The animals began whispering 
to each other all about the clearing. 

Mr. Bear nodded his head solemnly. 

“I thank you for your counsel, Doc- 
tor Porcupine,” said he. “I agree with 
you entirely and my mind is quite made 
up.” Even Mr. Bear seemed to use big 
words when he talked to Doctor Porcu- 
pine. 

“And now,” said Mr. Bear, “the 
meeting is over. You may all go home. 
It’s nearly time for dinner.” 

The animals and birds went so 
quickly and quietly that Sammy could 
hardly tell how they had gone. There 
was just a little rustling of leaves, little 
creeping sounds among the bushes, and 
a flicker of many wings between the 
trees. 

In a few minutes they were all gone 


Sammy Goes Hunting 35 


and Sammy and Mr. Bear were alone 
in the clearing. 

Mr. Bear tucked Sammy’s big gun 
under his arm. They went out into the 
Wood Road and Sammy reached up 
and took hold of Mr. Bear’s paw. 

“I’ll just carry this gun for you,” said 
Mr. Bear; “it’s pretty heavy.” He 
looked down at Sammy and his eyes 
twinkled. 

When they reached the end of the 
Wood Road, Mr. Bear gave Sammy the 
gun. 

“Good-bye, Sammy,” said Mr. Bear. 

“Good-bye, Mr. Bear,” said Sammy. 

It was the first word he had spoken 
since he went into the woods. He 
looked at Mr. Bear and smiled. 

Mr. Bear seemed to be thinking of 
something that he wanted to say. If 


36 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

anyone so big and dignified could look 
shy Sammy would have said that Mr. 
Bear looked a little that way. 

“Perhaps,” said Mr. Bear after 
awhile, “perhaps you might want to 
come into the woods again some day. 
And perhaps Sally might like to come 
with you, if it isn’t too far for her to 
walk.” 

Sammy nodded. “I guess we would,” 
said he. 

“If you go down the Wood Road just 
a little beyond the clearing,” said Mr. 
Bear, “you can look across a little valley 
and see a big hill with a pile of rocks 
on the side of it. That’s where I live. 
There’s a path leads off to the left a little 
farther down the Wood Road and it 
goes right to the door of my house.” 
Sammy nodded eagerly. 


Sammy Goes Hunting 37 


“And Sammy,” said Mr. Bear, “don’t 
you mind Mr. Fox. Just don’t pay any 
attention to him — nobody does. Now 
you run along home.” 

Sammy had already started down the 
road when Mr. Bear called after him 
again. He was still sitting in the shady 
entrance of the Wood Road following 
Sammy with his eyes. 

“Does your mother let you eat mo- 
lasses cookies between meals?” said 
Mr. Bear. Sammy turned and nodded 
his head vigorously. A moment later 
he turned to look again and wave his 
hand, but Mr. Bear was gone. 

When Sammy got home he went into 
the kitchen. He could hear Mary the 
cook out in the wash-shed. He moved 
a chair up to the fireplace and hung up 
the gun. 


38 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Then he went out into the wash-shed 
and asked Mary when she expected 
Father and Mother and Sally. Mary 
was sorting clothes for ironing and said 
she expected them any moment. 

Sammy went out into the garden at 
the back of the house. He found the 
tremendous big strawberry which he 
and Sally had marked for their own by 
sticking a twig in the ground beside it. 
Whenever they found an extra big one 
they marked it and Father left it for 
them. Sammy looked it over and de- 
cided that in two days more it would be 
dead ripe. 

“I wonder,” said Sammy, “whether 
bears like strawberries?” He stood 
looking at it for a long time. 

“I guess it’s no use telling Father and 
Mother about this,” said Sammy— “they 


Sammy Goes Hunting 39 


just couldn’t believe it. But you wait 
until Sally Sassafras comes home! — I’ll 
tell her something that will surprise 
her.” 


CHAPTER II 


A THIEF IN THE WOODS 

I T was about ten o’clock of a fine 
summer morning when Sammy 
and Sally started on their first trip to 
the Wood Road. They had one of 
Mrs. Sassafras’s best lunches in a little 
old-fashioned covered basket with a 
double handle. 

When Mrs. Sassafras put up a lunch, 
it was sure to be a good one. The 
children always planned to ask her at a 
time when she wasn’t busy, else she was 
likely to tell Mary, the cook, to do it. 
Mary meant well and was considered 
the best cook in that county, but she just 


40 


A Thief in the Woods 


41 


couldn’t put up anything like such a 
lunch as Mrs. Sassafras. 

Mrs. Sassafras had very good ideas 
about lunches. The sandwiches were 
always wrapped in lettuce leaves. She 
said it was the only way to keep them 
fresh and tasty. The apples were pol- 
ished until they shone like a brass kettle. 
The bottle of milk usually turned out to 
be half cream and was wrapped in a wet 
napkin to keep it cool. The holes in the 
doughnuts were filled with pieces of 
maple sugar, and when you thought you 
were all through, you were likely to 
find a couple of bamberries tucked away 
in one corner of the basket for a sur- 
prise. 

Sally kept tight hold of Sammy’s 
hand. She had made him promise that 
he wouldn’t let go of her the whole time 


42 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


that they were in the woods. Even at 
that, she hoped they wouldn’t meet Mr. 
Fox. 

Sammy had told her so much about 
Mr. Bear that she already felt quite fond 
of him. But the first time she met him 
she wanted to have hold of Sammy. 

They came to the Wood Road pres- 
ently and turned into the cool shade 
under the trees. 

Sammy looked about him. “Now,” 
said he, “we might meet some of the 
animals any time,” and his eyes spar- 
kled. Sally drew up closer to Sammy. 

They went along in silence, watching 
and listening. Once in a while they 
thought they heard rustlings and little 
faint sounds in the bushes. They 
stopped and peered into the woods but 
not a thing could they see. 


A Thief in the Woods 


43 


When they got up on the ridge, and 
came to the blueberry patch, Sammy 
stopped. 

“This is where I first saw Mr. Bear,” 
he said. 

“My, but you must have been scared!” 
whispered Sally. 

“I don’t see where they can all be to- 
day,” said Sammy with a sigh. “We’ll 
go to the clearing and if we don’t find 
anyone there, we’ll go on and see if we 
can’t find Mr. Bear’s house.” 

Sally nodded; she was really too 
frightened to speak. 

When they reached the clearing, 
Sammy put the lunch basket down in 
the shade under the old apple tree. He 
showed Sally all the little paths through 
which the animals had .come into the 
clearing when Mr. Bear called them. 


44 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Sally peered down the paths and won- 
dered how it would seem to see a pair 
of little bright eyes looking back at her. 

Sammy knocked with a stick on the 
old apple tree and shouted to Mr. Owl, 
who had his house in the big hole up 
in the trunk, but no one answered. 

“Well,” said Sammy, “I guess we’ll 
have to go on to Mr. Bear’s house, but 
first we’ll go back to the blueberry patch 
and get some blueberries to eat after 
our lunch. We can get them in my 
hat.” 

They left their lunch basket under the 
tree and ran back to the blueberry 
patch. 

It couldn’t have been more than fif- 
teen minutes before they returned to 
the clearing with Sammy’s hat nearly 
full of blueberries. 


A Thief in the Woods 


45 


And this is what they found. 

The lunch basket with the cover 
thrown open was lying on one side. 
The sandwiches were scattered about, 
and the corner of one of them had been 
nibbled. The lettuce leaves were all 
gone except a little scrap or two that 
lay among the sandwiches. A piece 
had been eaten out of one of the big 
red apples and the other one had dis- 
appeared. The bottle of milk with the 
napkin half unwrapped, had been 
dragged under a bush. Somebody had 
been gnawing at the cork. The dough- 
nuts were scattered about untouched, 
but of the maple sugar every piece was 
gone. 

Sammy and Sally stopped short and 
stared at the remains of their lunch 
scattered on the grass. 


46 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

“Who could have done it?” whis- 
pered Sally. 

Sammy tiptoed about the edge of the 
clearing, looking behind the bushes. 
Off in the woods, he thought he heard 
a rustling of little feet, and then every- 
thing was still. 

Suddenly there was a flash and a 
scurry in the top of the apple tree. A 
fat red squirrel ran out on the tip of a 
branch, chattering and laughing down 
at them. 

He was the first animal they had seen 
since they came into the woods. 

Sammy spoke to him very politely. 
“Mr. Squirrel,” said he, “do you know 
who stole our lunch?” 

Mr. Squirrel turned a somersault, 
landed safely on a lower branch and 
winked at Sammy. 


A Thief in the Woods 


47 


“Thief! thief! thief! thief!” chattered 
Mr. Squirrel. Then he put his two little 
paws to his fat sides and laughed and 
laughed. 

“Who did it?” said Sammy again. 

But Mr. Squirrel only “skinned the 
cat” on the very end of a branch, 
whisked his tail and made a tremendous 
leap into the trees at the edge of the 
clearing. Then he raced off among the 
tree-tops, and they could hear him call- 
ing, “Thief! thief! Oh, you old thief!” 
until he disappeared in the distance. 

Sally was a growing girl and thought 
very highly of her meals. She sat down 
on the grass and began to cry. 

Old Mr. Owl looked out of his hole 
in the apple-tree and blinked down at 
them. 

“Do you know who did it, Mr. Owl?” 


48 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


said Sammy. Mr. Owl chuckled and 
shook his head. Then he popped back 
into his hole and went sound asleep 
again. 

Sally was still crying and Sammy 
thought of the blueberries. He sat 
down beside her and put them into her 
lap. Sally stopped crying at once. 

When they had finished the blueber- 
ries, Sammy went and got the bottle of 
milk. They drank that and Sammy put 
the napkin back in the lunch basket. 

“We’ll have to go home, now that our 
lunch is gone,” said Sammy. He took 
Sally’s hand and they started back down 
the Wood Road. 

“Never mind,” said Sammy, “the next 
time we’ll go right to Mr. Bear’s house 
and find out who stole our lunch. He 


A Thief in the Woods 491 

knows everybody in the woods and they 
all mind him.” 

Sally nodded. “There is an old thief 
around here somewhere,” she said. 

There was no doubt about it. There 
certainly was a thief in the woods. 


CHAPTER III 


SALLY’S PINK HAIR RIBBON 

“T^yT OTHER,” said Sally Sassafras, 

IVi “I wish you’d let me wear my 
new pink hair ribbon to-day.” 

“What for, dear,” said her mother. 

“Well,” said Sally, “Sammy and I are 
going into the woods and we might meet 
somebody.” 

Mrs. Sassafras sat down in a chair and 
laughed. 

“Bless your heart, child,” said she, 
“whom do you expect to meet in the 
woods?” 

But she tied the new pink hair ribbon 


5 ° 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 51 


in a big bow at the top of Sally’s head, 
and kissed her. Sally ran out into the 
garden where Sammy was waiting for 
her. 

As they started for the Wood Road, 
Sammy made up his mind that this time 
they would go straight to Mr. Bear’s 
house and ask him about the thief in 
the woods, who had stolen their lunch. 
They wouldn’t stop anywhere until they 
found Mr. Bear. 

But when they came to the blueberry 
patch they found it a hard place to pass. 
The sun was shining bright and warm 
among the blueberry bushes and the 
berries looked bigger and sweeter than 
ever — Sally hung back and looked at 
them longingly. 

“Sammy,” said she, “I’d like a blue- 
berry.” 


52 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Sammy stopped at once. “So would 
I,” said he. 

He made a path for Sally into the 
middle of the patch. Here they came 
to a row of red cedars and an old stone 
wall. Beyond that they could see more 
blueberry bushes. They pushed their 
way between the cedars and climbed 
the wall. Sammy, who went ahead, 
scratched his hands and face on the 
prickly branches. 

When they had finished with the blue- 
berries they scrambled back again into 
the Wood Road. They went past the 
clearing and presently, just as Mr. Bear 
had said, the ground sloped away to the 
left. They could look out between the 
trees across a little open valley and on 
the other side, with the bright summer 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 53 

sun shining upon it, was the rocky hill 
where Mr, Bear lived. 

Half way up the hill they thought 
they could see a big pile of rocks that 
seemed to be roofed over, Sammy 
pointed it out to Sally. 

“That must be where he lives,” whis- 
pered Sammy. 

In a few steps more they came to Mr. 
Bear’s path leading off from the Wood 
Road. Sally’s heart began to beat very 
hard. She was really going to see Mr. 
Bear at last! 

She smoothed her dress, took tight 
hold of Sammy’s hand and felt of her 
hair to see that her new pink ribbon 
was standing up as a ribbon should 
when a little girl goes visiting. 

The hair ribbon was gone! 

“Oh, Sammy,” she wailed, “my hair 


54 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


ribbon!” Then she stopped short and 
got behind Sammy. 

They hadn’t heard a sound, but there, 
standing beside them in the middle of 
the Wood Road with a patch of sun- 
light shining on his sleek red coat, look- 
ing at them, stood Mr. Fox! 

Sammy didn’t like Mr. Fox, but he 
was no longer afraid of him. He was 
a well brought up little boy and never 
forgot his maners. 

“How do you do, Mr. Fox,” said he. 
“This is my little sister Sally.” 

He took Sally by the hand and drew 
her up beside him. 

“Good morning,” said Mr. Fox, 
politely enough. He dipped his tail and 
bowed very gracefully to Sally. Sally 
courtesied but said nothing. 

“We’ve lost Sally’s hair ribbon,” said 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 55 


Sammy. “I think it must be back in 
the blueberry patch where we went 
through the red cedars.” 

“It was pink,” said Sally. “My very 
best new one.” 

Even Mr. Fox didn’t like to hurt 
Sally’s feelings, but he shook his head. 

“I’m afraid you’ll never see it again,” 
said he kindly. “It wasn’t ten minutes 
ago that I saw Old Mr. Rabbit sneak- 
ing through the swamp with a big pink 
ribbon tied around his neck.” 

“He wouldn’t steal it, would he?” 
said Sally. And— “Is Old Mr. Rabbit 
a thief?” cried Sammy. 

At that, Mr. Fox sat down in the 
middle of the Wood Road and laughed. 

“You don’t mean to say you didn’t 
know that,” said Mr. Fox. “I thought 
everyone knew he was an old thief. Al- 


56 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


ways been a thief, as long as anyone 
in the woods can remember — steal any- 
thing he can lay his hands on.” 

“Then it must have been Mr. Rabbit 
who stole our lunch the other day,” said 
Sammy. 

Mr. Fox nodded. “Of course,” said 
he. “Sorry — ^wish I could help you — 
Good-bye.” And he slipped off into the 
bushes without a sound. 

Sammy and Sally stood looking at 
each other for a moment in silence. 

“Fm sorry about that,” said Sammy 
at last. “I think Mr. Rabbit meant to 
be kind to me that first day I came into 
the woods.” 

He took Sally by the hand and they 
turned off down the narrow path to 
Mr. Bear’s house. 

Mr. Bear’s path was very narrow and 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 57 


very crooked. It wound down into the 
valley and then kept turning off to the 
right as though it would never get 
across to the hill on the other side. It 
soon brought them out from among the 
big trees so that they found them- 
selves walking between birches, swamp 
maples and the bushes that grew thick 
in the valley. Presently they came to 
places where the path had been built up 
with stones and logs, and the ground on 
either side was wet and swampy. The 
breeze blowing up the valley carried 
the sweet smell of swamp azaleas and 
Sally thought she had never smelled 
anything so pleasant. Sammy walked 
ahead wondering why Mr. Bear had 
made such a crooked, roundabout road 
to his house. 

At last the path turned sharp to the 


58 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


left and began to go up hill among 
scrub oaks and rocks. As they climbed 
the hill Sammy looked eagerly ahead 
for the first sign of Mr. Bear’s house. 
Sally was close behind him. 

Suddenly she squealed and threw her 
arms about his neck. “Oh, Sammy! 
look! look!” she cried. 

Sammy turned around as quickly as 
he could with Sally holding on to him. 

Just behind them, striding along to 
overtake them, filling the narrow path 
so that he brushed against the bushes on 
either side, came big black Mr. Bear! 

Sally could never tell how it hap- 
pened, but the next thing she knew Mr. 
Bear had picked her up off the ground 
and set her on his arm. Sammy was 
dancing about, clapping his hands and 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 59 


crying, “Oh, Mr. Bear, Mr. Bear, we’ve 
found you!” 

And from that moment, when Mr. 
Bear picked her up in his big arms, 
Sally was never frightened again. She 
put her arms around his neck and 
looked down from her perch with her 
eyes shining. 

Mr. Bear held her tight against his 
soft coat. He took Sammy’s hand in 
his other big paw and they went on up 
the hill together. 

When they came in sight of the house 
Mrs. Bear was standing in the open 
door watching them, with two little baby 
bears hiding behind her checkered 
apron. Sally held out her arms and 
Mrs. Bear took her and carried her into 
the house. 

Mr. Bear’s house was built by filling 


6o Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


in the spaces between a great mass of 
rocks and roofing over the top with logs 
and sod. There was a little window on 
each side and the open door looked out 
across the sunny valley. At the back 
of the room was a great fireplace and a 
shelf full of pots and pans. There was 
a big bed of spruce boughs on either 
side of the room, and an oak table with 
benches around it in the center. 
Around the walls was a row of bayberry 
candles in birch bark holders. 

Mrs. Bear fetched some molasses 
cookies out of a stone crock in the cup- 
board. The baby bears had hidden 
under one of the big beds, but they came 
out when they saw the cookies. They 
sat in the sun on either side of the door- 
step eating their cookies and watching 



Mrs. Bear was standing in the open door 

watching them. 

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Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 63 

Sally who sat in Mrs. Bear’s lap, eating 
hers. 

Mrs. Bear smoothed Sally’s hair and 
tied one of her shoe laces which had 
come undone. Mr. Bear sat down in 
his easy chair by the fireplace and be- 
gan showing Sammy his big corn cob 
pipe with an alder stem, and his em- 
broidered pouch full of sweet fern and 
bayberry tobacco. 

And just then Sally remembered her 
pink hair ribbon. 

“Mrs. Bear,” said Sally. 

“What is it, dearie?” said Mrs. Bear. 
“Do you want another cookie?” 

“No, thank you, ma’am,” said Sally. 
“I just wanted to tell you something.” 

“Someone stole our lunch the other 
day, and now he’s stolen my new pink 
hair ribbon. Mr. Fox saw him.” 


64 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

“Old Mr. Rabbit, of course!” said 
Mrs. Bear and Mr. Bear together. 

Mr. Bear got up from his chair by 
the fireplace. “This has got to be 
stopped,” he said. “I won’t have that 
old thief stealing from these children. 
Next thing we know, he’ll steal the 
clothes off their backs.” 

He went out of the house with Sammy 
and Sally and the baby bears following 
him. There was a patch of sweet corn 
growing behind the house in a level 
place that Mr. Bear had cleared among 
the rocks. A long-handled shovel and 
a hoe were hung on pegs under the 
eaves. Mr. Bear put the shovel over his 
shoulder. He lit his pipe and hung the 
tobacco pouch about his neck with a 
leather thong. Sammy took hold of 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 65 


Mr. Bear’s paw and gave his other hand 
to Sally. 

“Come on,’’ said Mr. Bear, “we are 
going to get back that hair ribbon.” 

They went straight up the hill 
back of the house. It was steep and 
rocky, but with Mr. Bear helping 
them, they got on very well. The two 
baby bears scrambled on at a great rate, 
jumping and tumbling over the rocks. 
When they had crossed the top of the 
hill and gone half way down the other 
side, they came to a clump of birch 
trees growing in a grassy hollow among 
the rocks. Mr. Bear stopped and laid 
down his shovel. 

A little path ran in among the birch 
trees; and there, almost hidden by the 
over-hanging branches, was the en- 
trance to a burrow that ran deep into 


66 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


the hillside. It was Old Mr. Rabbit’s 
house ! 

Farther up the hill was the other en- 
trance to the burrow — Mr. Rabbit’s 
back door. Mr. Bear brought a big 
stone and laid it over the back door so 
that Mr. Rabbit couldn’t get out that 
way. 

Sammy and Sally stooped down and 
peered into the long dark hole. 

“Do you suppose he is at home?” 
said Sammy. 

“Do you think we’ll get back my hair 
ribbon?” whispered Sally. 

Mr. Bear thumped with his paw on 
the ground at the entrance to the bur- 
row, worn hard and smooth by Mr. 
Rabbit’s feet. “Mr. Rabbit! Mr. Rab- 
bit!” he called. 

No one answered. Mr. Bear sighed 



Mr, Bear was a great worker. 
67 




Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 69 


and shook his head. He laid down his 
pipe and tobacco pouch under a birch 
tree, took up his shovel and began to dig 
up Mr. Rabbit’s house. 

Mr. Bear was a great worker. The 
sand and gravel rattled like hail among 
the birches. When he came to a big 
stone he pulled it out with his paws and 
sent it flying down the hill. Sammy and 
Sally and the baby bears watched him, 
breathless with excitement. 

In a short while Mr. Bear had dug 
up Mr. Rabbit’s house a long way into 
the hillside, making a deep trench so 
that only his head showed above the top 
of it. Presently he stopped digging, 
crouched down and peered into what 
was left of Mr. Rabbit’s burrow. 
Sammy jumped into the trench beside 


70 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


him. * Sally danced about on the edge, 
watching them. 

This is what Sammy and .Mr. Bear 
saw: 

Old Mr. Rabbit was huddled back 
into the very end of his burrow. They 
could see his eyes shining; and, sure 
enough, around his neck they could just 
make out Sally’s pink hair ribbon tied 
in a big bow behind his ears. 

“Come, come, Mr. Rabbit,” said Mr. 
Bear, “give me the hair ribbon and let 
this be a lesson to you.” 

Mr. Rabbit’s voice came faintly out 
of the ground: “I won’t! I won’t! I 
won’t!” 

Mr. Bear sighed, took up the shovel 
again and dug a little farther into the 
hill. Then he crouched down again 
and reached into the burrow. He 


Sally’s Pink Hair Ribbon 71 


grunted and struggled to get his arm in 
a little farther. His big paw just grazed 
the end of Mr. Rabbit’s nose. 

And then Old Mr. Rabbit gave up! 

They could hear him whimpering 
down in the end of his burrow. He un- 
tied the pink hair ribbon from his neck. 

“There!” he sobbed. “Take it! 
Take it! Take it!” 

The pink ribbon came flying out of 
the burrow. Mr. Bear picked it up and 
gave it to Sally. She danced about, 
hugging it. Then she folded it up, put 
it in her pocket and kissed Mr. Bear. 

Mr. Bear helped Sammy out of the 
trench and clambered out himself. He 
picked up his shovel, his pipe and his 
tobacco pouch. He lifted Sally to his 
shoulder, and all together they started 
back over the hill to Mr. Bear’s house. 


72 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Sally patted the pink hair ribbon in her 
pocket and hugged Mr. Bear. Sammy 
and the baby bears chased each other 
up the hill, shouting and laughing. 

But Old Mr. Rabbit sat there, all 
alone, in the bottom of his ruined house 
and cried, and cried, as though his heart 
would break. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE BUMBLEBEES’ NEST 

S AMMY and Sally stood in the cool, 
shady Wood Road and looked 
through the trees across the sunny val- 
ley. They could see Mr. Bear’s house 
half way up the hill on the other side. 

“I wonder,” said Sammy, “why Mr. 
Bear made such a long roundabout path 
to his house.” 

“I wonder,” said Sally, “whether 
we’d find any of those sweet-smelling 
flowers if we went right straight across 
the valley.” 

She meant the swamp azaleas that 
they smelled when they went through 
Mr. Bear’s path. 


73 


74 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


If Sammy Sassafras had been a little 
older, and had been in the woods a little 
longer, he would have known why Mr. 
Bear had made such a roundabout path 
to his house; and he would have known, 
too, that the sweet smell of swamp 
azaleas meant wet feet. But there were 
many things about the woods that 
Sammy had still to learn. 

He scrambled up on a rock beside 
the JVood Road and looked across the 
valley. 

“It’s only a little way across,” said he 
to Sally, “and there’s a big white birch 
tree on the other side at the foot of the 
hill in front of Mr. Bear’s house. If we 
use that for a mark, we can’t get lost.” 

“Can we go through the bushes?” 
said Sally. 

“I’ll go ahead,” said Sammy, “and 


The Bumblebees’ Nest 


75 



help you if we come to any hard places. 
It isn’t one-half so far as going around 
by the path.” 

He jumped off the rock, and started 
down into the valley with Sally close be- 
hind him. 

It was easy going so long as they 
were among the big trees and they ran 
quickly down hill over the pine needles. 
But when they got down into the valley 
where the bushes grew thick, they had 
to go slowly. Sammy went ahead to 
find the easiest way for Sally. 

‘T can smell those flowers now,” said 
Sally. “Can’t we stop and look for 
them?” But Sanuny shook his head. 

“No,” he said, “I can only just see 
the top of the big birch tree now, and if 
I lose sight of that, we may get lost.” 

The bushes grew thicker and thicker 


76 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

so that it was hard for a little boy to push 
his way through them. Sammy had to 
stop every little while to help Sally. 
They scratched their hands and faces 
scrambling through. Sally’s hair rib- 
bon came untied, and hung down over 
her eyes. They stopped while she took 
it off and put it in her pocket. 

The ground under the dead leaves 
was soft and muddy. They had to step 
on logs and the roots of the swamp 
maples to keep their feet dry. The logs 
and roots were damp and covered with 
moss so that they slipped and stumbled 
into the mud. Once, as they climbed 
over a slippery log, Sally fell down. 
A dead limb caught her dress and tore 
a great hole in it. 

Sally was getting ready to cry. 


The Bumblebees’ Nest 


77 


“I want to go back,” she said, “and go 
around by the path.” 

But Sammy knew that he couldn’t 
find his way back. And he could still 
see the top of the big birch tree. 

Presently they came to openings 
among the bushes where there were 
clumps of tall grass with pools of water 
and black mud between. They had to 
jump from one clump of grass to an- 
other to get across. Sometimes they 
slipped into the mud and water?^ They 
were wet and muddy to their knees. 
They were too frightened now to notice 
the bushes of pink and white azaleas 
which grew all about them. Their 
hands and faces were scratched and 
dirty. Sally was crying to herself as she 
scrambled along. Sammy was fright- 
ened, too, but he tried to comfort Sally. 


78 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

“Don’t cry,” he said. “I’ll get out of 
here all right. I guess there are lots 
worse places than this in the woods.” 

All the while he kept his eyes on the 
top of the big birch tree which was 
getting nearer all the time. 

They crossed one more patch of 
swamp and got to the other side fairly 
covered with mud. Here they came to 
a little brook running quietly among 
the bushes. They jumped across it and 
found themselves again on dry ground 
among a fringe of trees growing along 
the edge of the swamp. The ground 
rose ahead of them, and they could see 
the trunk of the big white birch tree 
which had guided them across the 
valley. 

“We’re all right now, Sally,” said 


The Bumblebees’ Nest 


79 


Sammy; “I can see the birch tree and 
the rocks at the foot of the hill.” 

Sally stopped crying and wiped her 
eyes with a very muddy pocket handker- 
chief. They went on and stopped under 
the big birch tree. 

“Now,” said Sammy, “we’ll sit down 
and rest for a minute before we climb 
the hill. I can see the top of Mr. Bear’s 
house from here.” 

“Listen,” said Sally, “iWhat a funny 
noise !” 

Sammy listened. 

“Grumble, mumble, bumble,” went 
something that sounded very faint and 
far away. 

“Sounds like someone talking away 
off in the woods,” said Sammy. 

And just then he felt something on 
his leg that stung and burned like fire. 


8o Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


They were standing on a bumblebees’ 
nest under the roots of the old birch 
tree! 

“Oh! Oh!” cried Sammy. “Bumble- 
bees!” 

“Oh! Oh!” screamed Sally and 
clutched Sammy by the arm. 

They crashed through the bushes and 
ran, but it was too late. Sally was stung 
on both legs and on her hand and was 
crying at the top of her voice. Sammy 
had a great lump on his cheek where 
a big bumblebee had stung him, and his 
legs felt as though they were on fire. 

Mr. Bear was sitting in the sun in 
front of his house making tops out of 
acorns for the bear babies, when sud- 
denly there came from the foot of the 
hill such a racket as had never been 
heard before on that hillside. The two 



Mr. Bear sprang to his feet and started down the hill. 

8i 












The Bumblebees’ Nest 83 


baby Bears bolted into the house and 
hid under one of the big beds. Mrs. 
Bear came running to the door. Mr. 
Bear sprang to his feet and started down 
the hill, jumping over the rocks and 
crashing through the bushes. He knew 
where that bumblebees’ nest was, just 
as he knew everything else in the woods, 
and he could tell exactly what had hap- 
pened. 

“I’m coming, Sammy; I’m coming, 
Sally!” shouted Mr. Bear. 

He grabbed a dry branch in each 
hand to beat off the bumblebees. He 
could hear the children running and 
tumbling through the scrub oaks. In 
a moment he had reached them, beaten 
off the few bumblebees that still fol- 
lowed them, picked up Sammy under 
one big arm and Sally under the other, 


84 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


crying and sobbing. He ran up the 
hill with them to the house, as fast as 
he could go. 

Mrs. Bear ran out to meet them and 
carried Sally into the house. Sammy 
had stopped crying although his legs 
hurt him terribly, and his face was 
swollen so that one eye was nearly 
closed. Mrs. Bear walked up and down 
with Sally who was still sobbing and 
rubbing her legs. The two baby Bears 
came out from under the bed and sat 
in a corner whimpering out of sym- 
pathy. 

“Run and get Doctor Porcupine, 
Jerry,” said Mr. Bear to one of them, 
and the baby Bear ran down the path 
along the hillside. 

Doctor Porcupine lived in a pine 
grove which grew a little farther around 



Doctor Porcupine came trotting up to the house. 



















The Bumblebees’ Nesf 87 

the hill where the ground was sandy. 
In a few minutes he came trotting up 
to the house very much out of breath 
and with all his quills rattling. 

“Well, well,” said Doctor Porcupine 
bustling into the house, “anything seri- 
ous?” 

Then he saw Sammy’s swollen face 
and the big lump on Sally’s hand. 

“Purely local inflammation,” said 
Doctor Porcupine, “superficial but 
painful.” 

Mr. Bear nodded and looked wise. 

Mrs. Bear put Sally down on the edge 
of one of the big beds and pulled down 
her stockings, while Mr. Bear did the 
same for Sammy. 

“Run down to the swamp and fetch 
me some of the soft black mud from the 
edge of the brook,” said Doctor Porcu- 


88 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


pine, “and get me a handful of plantain 
leaves from the back yard.” 

Mr. Bear ran down the hill to the 
swamp, and the baby Bears went out 
into the back yard to get the plantain 
leaves. Sally was so surprised to see 
Doctor Porcupine open his shiny black 
case and rummage for bandages among 
the bottles that she forgot the pain and 
stopped crying. 

In a few minutes Mr. Bear came back 
with a great ball of black mud from the 
swamp. He put it in a tin basin on the 
floor. 

Doctor Porcupine took his horn 
spectacles out of the little pocket among 
his quills and set them on his nose. 
Then he made little poultices out of 
mud and laid them carefully over the 
bumblebee stings on Sally’s legs and 


The Bumblebees’ Nest 89 


hands. He placed a cool green plantain 
leaf over each poultice and bound it on 
with a little bandage woven from the 
soft inner bark of the red cedars. Then 
he bandaged up Sammy in the same 
way with a monstrous big poultice on 
the side of his face, tied on with a 
bandage that went twice around his 
head. Sally looked at Sammy and 
laughed. She had never seen him look 
so funny. Mr. and Mrs. Bear and the 
baby Bears laughed, too, and even 
Doctor Porcupine chuckled. Sammy 
looked at himself in a little mirror that 
hung beside Mrs, Bear’s bed. Then he 
laughed hardest of all. 

Doctor Porcupine’s poultices had 
done their work well. All the pain was 
gone. 

“The applications may be removed at 


90 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


the end of one hour,” said Doctor Por- 
cupine, “and need not be repeated.” 

Mr. Bear carefully made a note of it 
with a pencil on a piece of birch bark. 
Doctor Porcupine took off his horn 
spectacles and replaced them in the little 
pocket among his quills. Out of an- 
other pocket he took an old shiny silver 
watch and looked at it. 

“Must be going,” said Doctor Porcu- 
pine, “important appointment in fifteen 
minutes. Good-day.” 

He nodded all around and trotted out 
of the door with his quills rattling and 
his shiny leather case bobbing at his 
side. 

Mrs. Bear poured out a basin of 
warm water, and with a towel she 
washed Sally’s hands and face, brushed 
her hair and tied on her hair ribbon 


The Bumblebees’ Nest 


91 


again. Then she washed Sammy very 
carefully because of his swollen face. 

Mr. Bear sat down in his big easy 
chair beside the fireplace. 

“Now,” said he, “I am going to tell 
you children a story, and when I’ve 
finished, you’ll see what reminded me 
of it.” 

He lifted Sally up beside him on one 
of the arms of the chair and Sammy on 
the other. The two baby Bears curled 
up on the rug in front of the fireplace. 
And this is the story that Mr. Bear told 
them. 


CHAPTER V, 


MR. BEAR’S STORX 

"'"T^HIS story,” said Mr. Bear, “was 
X told me by Mr. Catamount, 
who used to live in the range of hills 
beyond the next valley. H e moved back 
farther into the woods when they built 
the Road and people began to settle 
around here. I don’t think he was 
popular. 

“Mr. Catamount had a cousin living 
abroad in North Africa in a piece of 
jungle beside a big river. He was an 
old bachelor Lion by the name of Bhil 
Snorthar, but I suppose that in this 
country we would have called him just 


Mr. Bear’s Story 


93 


Bill Snorter, According to Mr. Cata- 
mount, Bill was a monstrous big, pow- 
erful Lion and a terrible hand for a 
fight. 

“It seems that in the part of North 
Africa where Bill had his house, there 
wasn’t much of anybody living — ^just 
Lions, and Tigers, and Elephants, and 
Hippopotamuses, and Rhinoceroses, 
and Giraffes, and Zebras, and Boa con- 
strictors, and a lot of miserable insig- 
nificant Monkeys. 

“Now all of these animals were 
mighty scared of Bill Snorter. He had 
picked a fight with about all of them 
first and last and beaten them all. It 
got so after a while that there wasn’t 
anybody who dared to stand up to Bill, 
and he began to feel pretty lonesome 
and downhearted because he didn’t 


94 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

have anybody to fight with. He used 
to go through the jungle throwing out 
his chest and prancing around on his 
hind legs and telling everybody how he 
was the boss of the jungle and could 
whip anything on four legs, or on two 
for the matter of that, hoping that somsr 
body would start a fight and give him 
a little exercise. But everybody got out 
of sight when he talked that way, so 
things were pretty dull for Bill. 

“Now the parcel of Monkeys who 
lived in that jungle were just as fond of 
a fight as Bill was; only they didn’t like 
to be in it. They liked to sit in a safe 
place in the top branches of a tree and 
look on. So when none of the animals 
would fight with Bill any more, the 
Monkeys got to feeling pretty down- 
hearted, too. 


Mr. Bear’s Story 


95 


“After a while they heard of an old 
Tiger who lived down the river a ways 
in another jungle, and who was mighty 
fond of a fight. So one day a couple 
of them went over there and asked him 
whether he wouldn’t come over to their 
jungle the next morning and entertain 
Bill. 

“Sure enough, the old Tiger came 
around bright and early the next morn- 
ing. The Monkeys met him at the edge 
of the jungle and led him over to Bill’s 
house. Then they climbed into the 
trees and called to Bill to come out and 
meet someone who wasn’t afraid of him. 
Bill was just eating his breakfast, but he 
came out mighty quick and the fight 
began. 

“It really wasn’t much of a fight. 
The old Tiger was quicker than Bill, 


96 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


but Bill was bigger and stronger. After 
they had bitten, and scratched, and 
cuffed each other around the clearing in 
front of Bill’s house for about ten min- 
utes, the old Tiger put his tail between 
his legs and ran. And Bill went into 
the house to finish his breakfast. 

“The Monkeys weren’t discouraged, 
however, and after talking it over for a 
while, they took a trip two days’ journey 
up the river and brought back a great 
big young Rhinoceros with a sharp 
horn as long as your arm at the end of 
his nose. 

“That was a pretty bad fight. At 
first. Bill was considerably surprised at 
the way the Rhinoceros fought. He 
just put his head down and charged at 
Bill like a steam engine, and Bill had 
to step lively to keep out of the way of 


Mr. Bear’s Story 


97 


his horn. As it was, after they had 
fought for an hour, Bill was consider- 
ably cut up. The Rhinoceros had a 
terribly thick, tough skin, but after a 
while. Bill lit on his back, got a good 
hold, and bit, and clawed, and pounded 
him, until the Rhinoceros put his head 
down and charged off into the jungle 
as fast as he could go. 

“Then Bill turned a handspring or 
two, just to show how good he felt, and 
went back into the house. 

“There was just one animal left who 
the Monkeys thought might get the best 
of Bill; that was an old Elephant who 
lived way up north in a valley between 
two hills; and he was so fierce that no- 
body dared to go within a mile of his 
house. The Monkeys went and got 
him, finally, and one fine morning he 


98 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

came crashing into Bill’s jungle, nearly 
as big as a house, trumpeting and pull- 
ing up trees by the roots, and looking 
for Bill. 

“I tell you, when Bill saw that Ele- 
phant coming, he was tickled almost to 
death. He jumped up and caught hold 
of a branch and chinned himself with 
one hand just to show how strong he 
was. And then they started in to fight. 

“That was the most terrible battle ever 
seen in North Africa. The Elephant 
was five or six times as big as Bill, but 
Bill wasn’t afraid of anything. They 
fought and trampled all day long 
about the jungle, tearing up the ground 
and breaking down trees, while the 
Monkeys watched them from the tree- 
tops, and all the other animals ran away 
and hid. 


Mr. Bear’s Story 


99 


“Along in the afternoon they were 
both pretty well used up, but Bill was the 
fresher of the two, and he went at the 
Elephant harder than ever. That was 
too much for the big Elephant. He 
trumpeted so that you could hear it all 
over the jungle, and ran. The Monkeys 
pelted him with stones, and called after 
him that Bill Snorter was the greatest 
fighter in North Africa. 

“The next day Bill was up bright and 
early, and the way he bragged about his 
fight with the Elephant was something 
terrible. He made all the other animals 
come together in front of his house, al- 
though they were frightened half out of 
their wits, while he told them about the 
fight and how big and strong he was. 

“When he got through bragging and 
prancing around, and frightening the 


100 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


other animals, he suddenly heard a little 
buzzing noise in the air over his head. 

“Bill looked up, and there was a little 
old-fashioned African Hornet, looking 
as innocent as you please, but repeating 
over and over again in his little, mild, 
buzzing voice, ‘You can’t frighten me. 
Bill. You can’t frighten me.’ 

“Bill jumped up in the air and struck 
at the Hornet with his big paw, but 
missed him. The Monkeys laughed, 
and Bill roared with anger. 

“The next thing Bill knew, he was 
roaring with pain. The Hornet had 
stung him on the end of the nose and 
then crawled into one of his ears and 
stung him again. Bill cuffed at his ear, 
but he only scratched his own face. He 
nearly turned himself inside out trying 
to get at the Hornet. The Hornet flew 





The Monkeys laughed, and Bill roared with anger. 


lOI 







Mr. Bear’s Story 


103 


around and stung him on the tail just 
for variety, and then got into Bill’s other 
ear. 

“ ‘Will you give up? Will you give 
up?” buzzed Mr. Hornet inside of 
Bill’s ear. 

Bill gave up. 

He bolted for the river and stuck his 
head under the water to cool off. When 
he took his head out to breathe, the first 
thing he heard was the buzz of Mr. 
Hornet. Bill ran for the house, 
slammed the door and locked it. Mr. 
Hornet buzzed at the keyhole, but Bill 
had locked himself into his own room 
and was trying to crawl under the bed. 

“And there hasn’t been a fight in that 

jungle since.” 

* * * * 

Mr, Bear finished his story. 


104 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


“I’m glad we don’t live in North 
Africa,” said Sally. 

Mr. Bear’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t 
know whether the story is true,” said 
he, “but that is the way Mr. Catamount 
told it to me. He was a great hand to 
talk about his relatives. 

“Now,” said Mr. Bear, “we’ll take off 
the bandages.” 

There was nothing left of the bee 
stings but little, round, red marks. The 
pain and the swelling were all gone. 
Mrs. Bear washed off the mud with 
warm water, and gave them some mo- 
lasses cookies. 

“Now,” said Mr. Bear, “run along 
home, and remember to keep away from 
the Bumblebees and Hornets. They 
won’t hurt you unless you make them 
mad.” 


Mr. Bear’s Story 


105 


Sammy and Sally went down through 
Mr. Bear’s path and ran home along the 
Wood Road. 

“Well,” said Sammy, “I guess I know 
now why Mr. Bear made such a long, 
roundabout path to his house instead of 
going through that old swamp.” 


CHAPTER VI 


THE ISLAND IN THE BIG 
POND 

I T was a fine, warm morning in mid- 
summer, and Mr. Bear had been 
way down the Wood Road to the Big 
Pond. He was on his way home, and 
just at the corner where the path turned 
of¥ to his house, he met Sammy and 
Sally, carrying their little old-fashioned 
basket between them. 

They ran to meet him, and Mr. Bear 
sat down in the shade at the edge of the 
Wood Road. He filled his big corncob 
pipe from the embroidered tobacco 
pouch that hung about his neck. 

io6 


The Island in the Big Pond 107 


“I’m so glad we met you, Mr. Bear,” 
said Sammy, as they sat down beside 
him, and watched him light his pipe. 
“Mother said we could take our lunch 
in the woods, and we’re looking for a 
nice place — a place where we’ve never 
been before.” 

Mr. Bear puffed at his pipe, and the 
sweet, smelling smoke curled around his 
head. 

“Well,” said he, “almost every place 
in the woods is nice.” 

Sammy nodded. 

“I think so, too,” said Sally, and she 
cuddled up to Mr. Bear. 

“I’ve just been down to the Big 
Pond,” said Mr. Bear. “Mr. Musk- 
rat and Mr. Mink have been quarreling 
again. I’m afraid I shall have to move 
one of them over to the brook on the 


io8 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


other side of the woods if they don’t get 
along better.” 

“,What do they quarrel about?” said 
Sammy. 

“Well ” said Mr. Bear, “Mr. Musk- 
rat had a particularly fine coat last 
winter, and I guess it sort of made Mr. 
Mink mad. You know Mr. Mink al- 
ways has the finest coat of anybody in 
the woods. He went around telling 
everybody that Mr. Muskrat was put- 
ting on airs and trying to look like him. 
They haven’t been very good friends 
since. Mr, Muskrat really was too 
proud of that coat.” 

“How silly they are,” said Sally. 

Mr. Bear’s eyes twinkled. “Yes,” he 
said, “animals are sometimes just as silly 
as people,” 

“Why don’t you go down to the Big 


The Island in the Big Pond 109 


Pond?” said Mr. Bear. “It’s fine and 
cool down there to-day. There’s an old 
flat-bottomed boat that won’t tip over, 
and a fine little island at one end of the 
pond. There are three big pine trees 
on it, and some raspberry bushes on the 
further side. The raspberries ought to 
be ripe.” 

“My,” said Sally, “that would be fine. 
I’ve never been in a boat before.” 

“All right,” said Mr. Bear, “I’d go 
with you only Mrs. Bear expects me 
home to lunch. Don’t forget to tie your 
boat when you get to the island,” and 
he went off down the path to his house. 

Sammy and Sally trotted on down the 
Wood Road. The trees grew thicker 
and closer as they went along. The 
deep, cool shade of the spruce and hem- 
locks, and the strong, damp smell of the 


no Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


deep woods made it a very pleasant 
place on a warm day. It seemed only 
a short way before the Wood Road 
turned to the left, and they came out on 
the edge of the Big Pond. It lay before 
them, smooth as glass in the middle of 
tlie woods, reflecting the blue sky and 
the dark spruce trees that grew about 
one end of it. At that end, close to the 
further shore, was the little island with 
three big pine trees. The other end was 
shallow, and fringed with thick bushes. 
Down there, they could see the top of 
Mr. Muskrat’s summer house standing 
up out of the shallow water. 

Some big logs had been laid out on 
the stones at the edge of the pond, and 
the boat was tied up beside them. 
Sammy stood on the logs and shouted to 
Mr. Muskrat, but no one answered. 


The Island in the Big Pond ill 


Sally got into the boat and peered over 
the edge into the water. Sammy put the 
lunch basket into the bow, untied the 
rope from the big staple that was driven 
into one of the logs, climbed in himself 
and got out the oars. 

Sammy had never rowed a boat be- 
fore, but he was a strong little boy, and 
he soon found out how to pull it ahead. 
After a great deal of splashing, they 
moved slowly out on the pond. 

Mr. Bear had called it “the Big 
Pond,” but it really was rather small. 
After Sammy had splashed, and tugged 
for about ten minutes, the boat moved 
slowly up to the island, and grated on 
the gravelly shore. 

Sammy pulled in the oars and jumped 
out on a rock. Then he helped Sally to 
get out, picked up the lunch basket, and 


1 12 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


they went up on the island in the shade 
of the three big pine trees. 

And Sammy forgot to tie the boat. 

It was cool and pleasant on the island, 
just as Mr. Bear had said. They walked 
all round the edge and found the rasp- 
berries at the further end. The island 
was no bigger than the front yard of 
Sammy’s house and they could see the 
little fish swimming about in the shal- 
low water on the sunny side. Sammy 
made boats for Sally out of dry sticks. 

After a while, they sat down on the 
pine needles and opened their lunch 
basket. It was one of Mrs. Sassafras’s 
very best lunches, and Sally clapped her 
hand when they found the bamberries 
tucked away in one corner of the basket. 

When they had finished their lunch, 
they crossed over to the further side of 


The Island in the Big Pond iij 


the island to pick raspberries, and then 
Sammy noticed for the first time that 
thin gray clouds were hurrying across 
the sky, and covering the sun. A cool 
wind blew across the pond, and whis- 
pered mournfully among the branches 
of the pine trees. The water, which had 
been as smooth as glass in the warm 
summer sunlight, was stirred into rip- 
ples, and splashed coldly among the 
stones around the shore. 

“I think it’s going to rain,” said 
Sammy, “perhaps we’d better go home.” 
He picked up the lunch basket with one 
big apple which they hadn’t eaten, and 
they ran down to the shore where they 
had left the boat. 

The boat was gone! 

It was already quite a distance from 


1 14 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


the island, and drifting away before the 
wind, with the water lapping against it. 

Sammy stared at the boat, and his 
heart sank. 

“It’s my fault,” he whispered. “Mr. 
Bear told me to tie it, and I forgot.” 

Sally was too frightened to cry, but 
she felt cold all over. If you have ever 
been left on an island with your boat 
gone, the sky growing darker with the 
gathering clouds, the wind tossing the 
pine branches over your head, and the 
water splashing among the stones all 
around, you will know how Sally felt. 

Sammy looked at Sally. “Please 
don’t cry, Sally,” he said. 

He was ready to cry himself, but 
Sally shut her lips tight, and kept back 
the tears; and that made Sammy feel 
better. 


The Island in the Big Pond 115 


“Perhaps Mr. Bear will come after 
us,” said Sammy, “he knew where we 
were going.” 

“Let’s call to him,” said Sally, “he 
might hear us.” 

They crossed to the other side of the 
island, and shouted together as loud as 
they could, “Mr. Bear! O, Mr. Bear!” 

They called again and again, and 
their voices echoed around the pond, 
but no one answered. They went 
slowly back to the place where they had 
landed on the island. Sammy was try- 
ing to think what to do, and Sally was 
beginning to whimper in spite of her- 
self. They stood looking at the drifting 
boat, now halfway across the pond. 

Suddenly Sally caught Sammy by the 
arm, and pointed across the pond to the 


Ii6 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


landing where they had got into the 
boat. 

“Look! Look!” she cried. 

Something that seemed very small in 
the distance and very white against the 
dark green bushes, hopped down to the 
edge of the pond and sat still. 

Sammy jumped up and down and 
waved his arms. “|WeVe lost our boat,” 
he shouted. Before he could call again, 
the little figure turned and disappeared 
in the bushes. 

Sally burst out crying, but in another 
minute they saw the little figure again 
coming along the shore between the 
trees. 

Opposite the island, the shore ran out 
into a little point of land, so close to the 
island that you could throw a stone 


The Island in the Big Pond 117 


across. The little figure had disap- 
peared again into the bushes. 

“He’s coming to that point of land,” 
said Sammy. “Who can it be?” 

They had only a few minutes to wait 
and then they knew who it was. Old 
Mr. Rabbit hopped out from among 
the trees at the end of the point. 

“O dear! O dear!” whispered Sally, 
“it’s that old thief who stole my hair 
ribbon. He won’t help us.” 

But old Mr. Rabbit had hopped up 
on the end of a log, and was calling to 
them, trying to make a trumpet of his 
two little paws. 

Mr. Rabbit’s voice was always small 
and weak, but Sammy could make out 
that he was saying something about Mr. 
Muskrat. And then he turned and 
hopped back into the woods. 


ii8 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Sammy danced about and clapped his 
hands, “He’s going to get Mr. Musk- 
rat,” he cried, 

“O ! O !” said Sally, “I wish we had 
let him keep my hair ribbon.” 

They didn’t see Mr. Rabbit again 
until he ran across the road where it 
came down to the edge of the pond at 
the landing. He was headed straight 
for the further end of the pond, and Mr. 
Muskrat’s house. 

They couldn’t see what happened at 
Mr, Muskrat’s house; it was too far 
across the pond. For a long time they 
stood watching, and then suddenly they 
saw the boat swing around, point 
straight for the island and begin to move 
slowly toward them over the rippling 
water. 


The Island in the Big Pond 119 

“It’s coming! It’s coming!” shouted 
Sammy. 

Sally looked about her. The pond 
looked more friendly already. The sky 
didn’t seem so dark. The noise of the 
wind in the pine trees, and the splash of 
the water among the stones didn’t sound 
so mournful as it had before. 

Slowly the boat came nearer, and in 
a few minutes they could see Mr. Musk- 
rat’s little black nose above the water 
with the ripples running off on either 
side as he swam. He had the rope in 
his teeth, and it was slow work for him 
pulling the heavy boat against the wind. 
But it came on steadily with Mr. Musk- 
rat puffing, and straining, and coughing 
as the water got down his throat. 

Sammy ran into the water up to his 
knees, and pulled the boat ashore. 


120 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Mr. Muskrat came up on the island 
puffing and panting, and very cross. 

Sally tried to hug him, wet as he was, 
but he slipped out of her arms, shook 
himself, wheezed through his nose, and 
sat up looking at them quite fiercely. 

“Can’t you let a man get his breath?” 
said Mr. Muskrat. “Don’t you know 
enough to tie your boat?” 

Sammy took the hint and tied the boat 
with a double knot to one of the bushes 
that overhung the water. Then he took 
the apple out of the lunch basket and 
offered it to Mr. Muskrat. 

Mr. Muskrat seemed to feel much 
better when he saw the apple. He sat 
down on the pine needles with the big 
red apple between his paws, and nib- 
bled away at it. 


The Island in the Big Pond 12 1 


“Guess you’ve never been on the pond 
before,” said Mr. Muskrat. 

“No,” said Sammy, “and the next time 
we come. I’ll know enough to tie the 
boat.” 

“We’d like to go home now,” he went 
on. “But first I’ll row you across to 
your house.” 

He untied the boat, and Mr. Muskrat 
scrambled into the stern, Sammy put 
the apple down on the seat beside him. 
He helped Sally into the bow, got out 
the oars, and pushed off from the shore. 

Mr. Muskrat sat in the stern, nibbled 
at his apple, and told Sammy which oar 
to pull. He called, “Right! Right!” 
or “Left! Left!” in his little squeaking 
voice, and Sammy splashed and tugged 
until they got across to Mr. Muskrat’s 
house. 


122 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


“Good-bye,” said Mr. Muskrat. 
“Guess you need a few lessons in row- 
ing.” 

“I guess I do,” said Sammy. “Good- 
bye, Mr. Muskrat, and thank you.” 

“Before you go,” said Sally, “I want 
to tell you that you have got the nicest 
overcoat in the world; nicer than Mr. 
Mink’s.” 

Mr. Muskrat grinned all over, and 
his eyes sparkled. He took the big 
apple in his teeth, jumped over the side 
of the boat with hardly a splash, and 
disappeared under the water. 

Sammy rowed back to the landing, 
and they climbed out on the logs. 

“If we could only find Mr. Rabbit,” 
said Sally, “I love him even if he is a 
thief.” 

All the way home along the Wood 


The Island in the Big Pond 123 


Road they called and called to Mr. 
Rabbit, but he didn’t answer. 

But it was only a few days later that 
Mr. Bear met him, hopping down the 
Wood Road near the blueberry patch. 
He looked as shy and wistful as ever, 
but there was a beautiful, new pink 
ribbon tied around his neck. And this 
time he hadn’t stolen it. 


CHAPTER yil 

OLD MR. RABBIT 

T here came a time that summer 
when for many days no little boy 
and girl came trotting down the Wood 
Road, laughing and calling through 
the woods for Mr. Bear. Every day 
Mr. Bear came through his long, 
crooked path, across the valley, and 
wandered up and down the Wood 
Road; Mr. Fox went swift and silent as 
a shadow through every corner of the 
woods, and Doctor Porcupine bustled 
about on his rounds, but no one had 
seen Sammy and Sally. All of the 


124 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


125 


animals and even the trees seemed to be 
waiting and listening, but no sweet, 
childish voices sounded through the 
woods. 

Old Mr. Rabbit had dug himself a 
new house among the bushes and briars 
at the edge of Doctor Porcupine’s grove 
of pine trees. Every Monday morning 
he went down to the brook and washed 
the new pink ribbon that Sally had 
given him. Then he dried it in the sun, 
and took it home and ironed it before 
he put it on again. He kept it looking 
very fresh and clean, and folded it up 
and put it under his pillow at night be- 
fore he went to sleep. 

Mr. Bear met him one morning com- 
ing back from the swamp. Mr. Rabbit 
tried to sneak away into the bushes, but 
Mr. Bear called to him, and he came 


126 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


forward timidly, bobbed his head, and 
said, “Good morning,” in his faint little 
voice. 

“Good morning, Mr. Rabbit,” said 
Mr. Bear kindly. “You haven’t seen 
Sammy and Sally, have you?” 

Mr. Rabbit shook his head and be- 
gan to whimper. 

“O, Mr. Bear,” he said, “what do you 
suppose can have happened? I’ve 
hidden in the bushes beside the Wood 
Road every day and watched for them 
to go by, but I haven’t seen them now 
for more than two weeks, and they used 
to come every day or two.” 

Mr. Bear shook his head. “I can’t 
stand it any longer,” he said. “I’ve just 
got to find out what has become of 
Sammy and Sally.” 

Early next morning, before the sun 



He took it home and ironed it before he put 

it on again. 

127 










Old Mr. Rabbit 


129 


was up, while the valley was still full 
of white mist, and only the earliest birds 
were stirring and chirping sleepily in 
the bushes, Mr. Bear trotted silently out 
of the Wood Road and turned toward 
the big, white farm-house where Sammy 
and Sally lived. His shaggy, black coat 
was wet with dew from the bushes, and 
his big paws padded softly in the white 
dust of the road. 

Sammy had got up very early and 
dressed himself that morning. All 
night long he had heard his Mother and 
the Doctor stirring about in the next 
room where Sally lay sick. He had 
been crying because they would not let 
him go in to see his little sister. He 
opened the front door and went down 
the path between his Mother’s flower 
beds just as the first rays of the sun be- 


130 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


gan to shine over the hills and dry up 
the mist in the meadow. 

Down by the white gate he saw some- 
thing big and black that went “Snuffle, 
Snuffle” and fumbled at the latch. The 
gate shook and rattled in the still morn- 
ing air. 

Sammy ran down the path between 
the flower beds, and opened the gate. 

“O, Mr. Bear, Mr. Bear,” he whis- 
pered, “I’m so glad you have come. 
Sally is sick.” 

Mr. Bear sat down by the gate and 
looked at Sammy. Then he looked 
doubtfully at the big, silent farm-house. 
Mr. Bear felt very strange sitting there 
at the gate, so far away from the woods. 

“Is she very sick?” he asked. “Can 
I see her?” 

Sammy shook his head. “She’s very 


Old Mr. Rabbit 131 

sick,” he said. “I don’t know whether 
she will ever get better. You can’t see 
her; I can’t see her. Nobody can see 
her but mother and the doctor.” 

Sammy’s lip trembled, and there were 
tears in his eyes. 

“Don’t cry, Sammy,” said Mr. Bear, 
although he looked ready to cry him- 
self. “I’ll go and see Doctor Porcu- 
pine, and then I’ll come again and tell 
you what he says.” 

Mr. Bear straightened up, and tried 
to look very brave. 

“I think she will get better, Sammy,” 
he said, “and you must try to think so, 
too.” 

They could hear Mary, the cook, be- 
ginning to stir about in the kitchen at 
the back of the house, and out in the 


132 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


stable the horses were tramping in their 
stalls. 

“I’ll have to be going, Sammy,” said 
Mr. Bear. 

“Yes,” said Sammy, “somebody 
might see you here, and they wouldn’t 
understand.” 

“Good-bye,” said Mr. Bear. 

“Good-bye,” said Sammy, “and thank 
you for coming.” He tried to smile 
bravely, and Mr. Bear trotted off slowly 
and sadly toward the Wood Road. 

The sun was already shining bright 
and warm among the tree tops, and the 
woods were alive with the songs of birds 
when Mr. Bear passed the blueberry 
patch, and came to the clearing where 
he had called the animals together that 
day when Sammy first came into the 
woods. He trotted along slowly, think- 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


133 


ing very hard. When he came to the 
clearing, he turned in, under the old 
apple tree, picked up a stick, and 
rapped three times on the big, hollow 
trunk. 

The clearing was empty and silent, 
but Mr. Bear had only a few minutes 
to wait. Every animal in the woods had 
been waiting for Sammy and Sally, and 
wondering why they didn’t come; and 
when Mr. Bear’s signal sounded sharply 
through the woods, they knew why he 
was calling them together. 

This time, it was old Mr. Rabbit who 
came first, hopping through the bushes 
into the clearing like a timid little ghost. 
He had his pink hair ribbon tied care- 
fully about his neck in a big bow, and 
he crept silently under a bush without 
a word, and waited. Then with many 


134 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

little rustling sounds among the bushes, 
the animals began to come out of the 
little paths about the clearing. Many 
little bright-eyed birds flitted through 
the trees, and perched silently on the 
near-by branches. Last of all came 
Doctor Porcupine out of breath with 
running, for he was a very busy doctor, 
and had been gathering snake root in 
the farthest edge of the woods. 

Once again the clearing was alive 
with little furry bodies, and little bright- 
eyed birds who waited silently for Mr. 
Bear to speak. But this time no little 
boy sat under the apple tree, looking 
bravely back at them with wondering 
eyes. And every bird and every animal, 
even Mr. Fox, felt lonely, and knew 
that something was wrong. 

Mr. Bear stood up and looked 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


135 


solemnly about him. Even the little red 
squirrel on a branch over Mr. Bear’s 
head was quiet and forgot to tease his 
hig, gray brother. 

“Sally Sassafras is sick,” said Mr. 
Bear, sadly, “very sick. I talked with 
Sammy this morning, and the doctor 
says she may never get well again !” 

Mr. Bear stopped and looked at Doc- 
tor Porcupine, and all the other animals 
turned silently and looked at him, too. 

Doctor Porcupine sat up, and took 
out his horn spectacles from the little 
pocket among his quills. He set them 
on his nose and looked solemnly at Mr. 
Bear. 

“How long has she been sick?” said 
Doctor Porcupine. 

“More than two weeks,” said Mr. 
Bear, “and now they won’t let anybody 


136 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


see her but her mother and the doctor.” 

Doctor Porcupine shook his head. 
He was a very cheerful doctor, but now 
he looked very sad and mournful. Old 
Mr. Rabbit was crying and whimpering 
to himself under his bush at the edge 
of the clearing, but no one paid any at- 
tention to him. 

“I’m afraid we can’t do anything to 
help her,” said Doctor Porcupine, at 
last, “unless ” 

Doctor Porcupine stopped and 
looked thoughtfully about him at all the 
animals. Mr. Owl in the trunk of the 
old apple tree opened his eyes and 
looked about him, too 

“Unless,” went on Doctor Porcupine, 
“unless somebody will go and get the 
Wood Fairy.” 

There was a little stir all about the 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


137 


clearing as the animals whispered 
quietly to each other. 

Mr. Bear nodded his head. “I’ve 
heard about the Wood Fairy,” he said, 
“but where does she live, and who can 
go to find her?” 

“Only the swiftest animal in the 
woods can go,” said Doctor Porcupine, 
“and I can only tell you this : 

“.You start at noon and run all day 
long, into the West after the setting sun. 
And when the night comes, you keep 
running into the West, away from the 
rising moon. And then, at midnight, 
when the moon is straight above your 
head, and if you have never stopped for 
one instant for weariness or pain, and 
if you have a brave, kind heart, you will 
come to the home of the Wood Fairy.” 

“Yes,” said Mr. Owl from the trunk 


138 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

of the apple tree, “that is true. The 
fastest feet in the woods, and a brave, 
kind heart.” 

Mr. Bear looked about him. “Who 
can go? Who can go?” he said to him- 
self. 

“The fastest feet in the woods,” he 
said, and he looked doubtfully at Mr. 
Fox, who hung his head and looked 
ashamed. 

And then out from under his bush, 
into the middle of the clearing came old 
Mr. Rabbit, and all the animals watched 
him in surprise. They stopped whisper- 
ing to each other, and a silence fell 
upon the clearing so still that you could 
hear the grasshoppers and beetles stir- 
ring in the grass. 

Mr. Rabbit looked timidly about him. 
He looked up at the sun which had 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


139 


climbed steadily into the sky and shone 
down nearly straight into the clearing. 

“I am going,” said old Mr. Rabbit. 
“I am going.” 

“It is nearly noon, and I can run as 
fast as Mr. Fox. I will never stop for 
pain or weariness ; and I love Sally and 
Sammy.” 

Old Mr. Rabbit looked up once more 
at the sun which was climbing higher 
every minute into the sky. He looked 
about him at all the animals who 
watched him with wondering eyes. 

“If I don’t find the Wood Fairy,” he 
said, “or if she will not listen to me, I 
won’t come back and you will never see 
me again.” 

Old Mr. Rabbit hopped to the edge 
of the clearing, and looked once more 
at the sun. “Good-bye,” he said. 


140 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


“Good-bye,” said Mr. Bear. “It is 
noon, and you must start. You had 
better give me your pink ribbon to keep 
for you until you come back.” 

But old Mr. Rabbit shook his head. 
“No,” he said, “I couldn’t go without 
my ribbon. I didn’t steal it; Sally gave 
it to me.” 

He cleared the Wood Road in one 
leap, and was gone like a white streak 
among the trees. 

The sun shone clear and hot among 
the bushes as Mr. Rabbit ran through 
the swamp. He leaped light and sure- 
footed between the bushes of swamp 
azaleas, and across the pools of deep, 
black mud where Sally and Sammy had 
stumbled and floundered on that day 
when they crossed the swamp. He 


Old Mr. Rabbit 141 

cleared the little brook at a bound and 
flew up the rocky hillside. 

Mrs. Bear and the baby Bears had 
barely time to see him as he passed their 
house; and they wondered where old 
Mr. Rabbit could be going. 

Down the other side of the hill went 
Mr. Rabbit, past his old ruined house. 
He crossed two more valleys and began 
to climb the further range of hills where 
Mr. Catamount lived. This was a deep, 
wild wood with tangled under brush 
and fallen trees. Mr. Rabbit was 
getting tired, but he breasted the hill 
bravely, leaping over the fallen logs. 
Once he thought he saw the lean tawny 
form of big Mr. Catamount stretched 
out in the shade, lifting his head in sur- 
prise to see a little animal who dared to 
come into his woods. 


142 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


But old Mr. Rabbit raced on. 

The sun went down into the West, and 
after it ran Mr. Rabbit. His feet were 
sore, and his ears were torn and bleed- 
ing from the briars. Down through the 
darkening valleys he raced, and over the 
ranges of hills, weary of foot, sore and 
aching in every joint. His pink ribbon 
hung limp and draggled about his neck. 

The red glow of the sunset faded, and 
darkness fell among the woods. The 
stars began to shine in the pale sky 
above the tree tops. Behind him, in the 
east, the big, silver moon climbed 
slowly above the hills. And old Mr. 
Rabbit, half dead from weariness and 
pain and fright, never stopped, but ran 
and ran and ran, away from the rising 
moon, into the West. 

All about him in the darkness, the 



V 



Old Mr. Rabbit ran and ran and ran into the West. 


143 



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Old Mr. Rabbit 


145 


night noises sounded among the bushes. 
Over his head, flitted the bats, and the 
night birds rustled in the bushes as he 
passed. Far away across the valleys, a 
whip-poor-will called faintly, again and 
again through the night. High up 
among the trees, a screech owl cried to 
frighten him as he passed. 

He did not know through what 
strange country he was passing. It 
seemed all brambles and stones and 
darkness. Endless rocky hills to climb, 
with endless alder swamps between. 
He only knew that somewhere in the 
West, a brave, kind heart, and the fastest 
feet in the woods, that never stopped for 
weariness or pain, would find at last, the 
Wood Fairy to help a little girl, whom 
old Mr. Rabbit loved. 

Higher and higher climbed the big. 


146 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


silver moon, shining among the tree- 
tops and over the bushes in the open 
valleys. And under its pale light which 
only made the shadows deeper and more 
terrible, a ragged old Rabbit, torn and 
bleeding, and half dead with weariness, 
stumbled and struggled on through the 
darkness to save a little girl who had 
given him a pink hair ribbon. 

Midnight had come. Straight over 
old Mr. Rabbit’s head the big, silver 
moon looked down at him. He dragged 
himself across a rocky plain, and at the 
further side a pine grove stood, black 
and silent in the moonlight. He could 
hardly crawl ahead, but he knew that it 
was midnight and he must not stop now; 
and at last he crept into the black 
shadow of the pine trees. 

In that pine grove was such darkness 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


147 


and silence and coolness as old Mr. 
Rabbit had never felt. A little strength 
came back into his tired, battered, old 
body. He stumbled on, deeper and 
deeper among the trees, and at last he 
came to an opening like a great, dark 
room in the very center of the grove. 
Around it, pine trees stood like a w^all 
with their tall tops reaching up into the 
moonlight. The thick grass, wet with 
dew, was like a soft carpet underneath. 
In the middle of the clearing, with the 
silver moonlight shining upon it, stood 
the hollow trunk of an old dead tree. 
All about it, countless fireflies crept and 
clung among the tall grass, shining like 
a thousand candles. 

Old Mr. Rabbit had come at last to 
the home of the Wood Fairy. 

Shivering and trembling, he crept 


148 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


across the clearing. The fireflies 
glowed about him, and clung to his wet, 
draggled fur, as he crouched down at 
the foot of the hollow tree. 

Within the trunk, a faint, little voice 
was singing a fairy song, and the fire- 
flies crept closer and glowed brighter as 
they listened. 

Old Mr. Rabbit lay at the foot of the 
tree, trembling and sobbing: 

“Wood Fairy,” he said faintly, “it’s 
me, old Mr. Rabbit. Sally Sassafras is 
sick, and I have come to tell you.” 

The sweet, faint singing stopped. 
Old Mr. Rabbit listened, trembling. 

“Give me your pink hair ribbon,” said 
the little voice, “and I will go.” 

Old Mr. Rabbit thought more of his 
pink ribbon than anything else in the 
world. But he tugged and fumbled at 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


149: 


it until he got it untied. Just over his 
head there was a little opening in the 
tree trunk. He raised himself wearily, 
held up the ribbon, and in a moment it 
had disappeared within the hollow tree. 

Old Mr. Rabbit sank down into the 
tall grass, feeling that he could never 
stir again. But his heart was full of 
happiness and peace. For swift and 
silent, and shining faintly like one of the 
fireflies, the Wood Fairy flew away 
above the tree-tops straight to Sally’s 
house. 

* * * * 


All day long, after old Mr. Rabbit 
had gone to find the Wood Fairy, Mr. 
Bear wandered up and down the Wood 
Road. That night, he scarcely slept. 
He and Mrs. Bear kept getting up and 


ISO Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

going to the door to watch and listen. 
All the next day they waited and all the 
animals and birds searched through the 
woods for old Mr. Rabbit. But when 
the night came he had not returned. 
Mr. Bear went to bed at last, tired and 
discouraged, and went to sleep. 

He was awakened by a faint little 
scratching at the door. He opened his 
eyes and saw that it was morning. The 
first daylight shone faintly through the 
windows as Mr. Bear jumped out of 
bed and opened the door. Something 
limp and draggled and motionless lay 
huddled on the door-step. Old Mr. 
Rabbit had come back. 

Mr. Bear picked him up and carried 
him into the house. His eyes were shut, 
he was torn and battered, and his pink 
ribbon was gone. 


Old Mr. Rabbit 


lE 

Mrs. Bear put clean sheets on the big 
bed where she and Mr. Bear slept, and 
they laid old Mr. Rabbit down and cov- 
ered him with a blanket. Then Mr. 
Bear ran for Doctor Porcupine. 

When Doctor Porcupine arrived, he 
jumped up on the bed beside Mr. Rab- 
bit and felt his pulse. He put down his 
head, listened to the beat of Mr. Rabbit’s 
heart, and felt of him all over. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bear stood beside the bed, 
watching anxiously. The baby Bears 
were still sound asleep in the other bed. 

Doctor Porcupine jumped down and 
opened his shiny black case. 

“Utterly exhausted,” he said. “Nearly 
starved. One leg broken. Lucky he 
could get to your house. Did he find 
the Wood Fairy?” 

“I don’t know,” said Mr. Bear, “but 


152 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


I think he did, or he would never have 
come back.” 

“Let him sleep,” said Doctor Porcu- 
pine. “Keep those babies quiet. Give 
him two of these pills when he wakes 
up, and rub this witch hazel ointment 
on his cuts. Now I’ll set his leg.” 

He took two splints and a bandage 
from his case, and tied up Mr. Rabbit’s 
leg. Old Mr. Rabbit stirred and whim- 
pered when Doctor Porcupine touched 
it. 

“Give him some gruel and a cup of 
hot hemlock tea when he wakes up,” 
said Doctor Porcupine. “To-morrow, 
he can eat all he wants. Keep him in 
bed for a week. I’ll come again this 
afternoon.” 

Mrs. Bear smoothed the pillow under 
old Mr. Rabbit’s head. “I’ll take good 



When Doctor Porcupine arrived, he jumped up on 
the bed beside Mr. Rabbit and felt his pulse. 


153 



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Old Mr. Rabbit 


155 


care of him,” she said. “He deserves 
it.” 

It was broad daylight now, and the 
sun was shining high above the tree- 
tops. Mr. Bear and Doctor Porcupine 
trotted rapidly through the long, 
crooked path, across the valley and out 
into the Wood Road. There was no 
need to call the animals together. Mr. 
Muskrat and Mr. Mink had come up 
from the Big Pond, and were waiting at 
the end of Mr. Bear’s path. Mr. Fox 
joined them at the clearing, and by the 
time they reached the blueberry patch, 
the Wood Road was filled with animals 
and all the birds were flitting beside 
them in the bushes. 

Up the Wood Road, under the cool 
shade of the pine trees, went the whole 
procession, big, black Mr. Bear at their 


156 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 

head. And suddenly through the still 
morning air they heard the sound of 
childish voices. Sammy and Sally came 
running down the Wood Road hand in 
hand, laughing and calling through the 
woods for Mr. Bear. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE END OF THE STORY 

N OW these are all the adventures 
of Sammy Sassafras and his little 
sister Sally that I am going to tell you 
in this book. But perhaps you would 
like to know what became of old Mr. 
Rabbit, so I will tell you that. 

Mrs. Bear took such good care of 
him, and Doctor Porcupine gave him 
such fine medicine that he was soon 
quite well again. His broken leg kept 
him in bed at Mr. Bear’s house for a 
couple of weeks, and Sammy and Sally 
came to see him every day. 

Sally gave him a new pink ribbon, 
and tied it about his neck herself, and 


IS7 


158 Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


kissed him as he sat propped up with 
pillows in Mr. Bear’s big bed. Sammy 
brought him lettuce and tender little 
carrots from the kitchen garden. 

Old Mr. Rabbit was still very shy, and 
you could not get him to tell the story 
of his journey to the home of the Wood 
Fairy. When anyone told how brave 
and kind he had been, he used to turn 
his face to the wall, and make believe 
he was asleep. 

But he grew very fat and sleek with 
all the fine things Mrs. Bear cooked for 
him, and all the dainties that the other 
animals brought him. Even Mr. Fox 
brought him a big, red apple, and tried 
to make himself agreeable. 

When his broken leg was healed, Mr. 
Rabbit hopped back to his house beside 
Doctor Porcupine’s grove, but he had 


The End of the Story 159 


grown so fat, that he could hardly 
squeeze through his long, narrow bur- 
row. Mr. Woodchuck and Mr. Skunk 
came and dug it larger for him. The 
other animals came so often to visit him, 
that they soon made a path into the 
thicket where he lived. Mr. Bear 
helped him to clear away the bushes 
about his front door, so that now he has 
a fine place to sit in the sun and watch 
for Sammy and Sally when they come to 
call on him. 

To this day he has never stolen any- 
thing again, and now when you meet 
him in the woods, he sits up and looks 
at you with his pink ribbon tied about 
his neck, and bids you good-morning, 
instead of sneaking off into the bushes 
as he used to do in the old days when 
he was a thief. 


i6o Adventures of Sammy Sassafras 


Doctor Porcupine is still bustling 
around with his little, black, shiny, 
medicine case, and is considered the 
finest doctor in the woods for stone 
bruises, bumblebee stings, and thorns in 
the feet. 

Mr. Muskrat and Mr. Mink have 
made up their quarrel. Now, when 
Sammy and Sally row out to the island 
in the big pond, Mr. Muskrat and Mr. 
Mink swim over together, and take 
lunch with them. 

So far as I know, all the animals are 
still living happily about the Wood 
Road. The last time I went through 
there, I met Jerry, the older one of the 
baby Bears, and he had grown so big 
that for a moment I thought it was Mr. 
Bear himself. 


TSB END 




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